Freelancer scammed me.

[cea16083]

Freelancer scammed me into giving him a deposit. The next day he tells me that he is unable to complete the work and will not give a refund. How do I resolve this?

[JoanneP]

Hi Stephen,

Could you please share the contract ID so I can check? You can also share with me more information via PM by clicking on my name. Thank you!

[prestonhunter]

Stephen:
I very much hope that working with Upwork Customer Support, you will be able to receive all of the money back that you paid to this scammer freelancer.

For future reference (for you and anybody else reading this), it is NOT Upwork's that freelancers pay a "deposit" or "upfront payment" to freelancers.

For fixed-price contracts, Upwork uses a true escrow payment system. This means that clients an escrow payment for a task, and then freelancers do the task and provide the files to the client, and then (after review by the client) the client releases money to the freelancer.